On paper these were two evenly matched teams, but when Saddleback setter Amber Richter left the match in the middle of the first game with a back injury it tipped the scales in favor of Cypress and the Chargers went on to sweep Saddleback 30-25, 30-27, 30-18.
Sarah Martin had 13 kills and Hannah McElroy added 10 kills for the Gauchos while Megan Ozurovich had 13 defensive digs and Paulina Swiatkowski had three solo blocks.
But Cypress’ Nicole Holmes was credited with 17 kills and Johnisha Blackwell added 14 kills as Cypress broke a 24-24 tie to win the second game and took over in the third game after the score was knotted at 12-12.
There were some long rallies and hard-fought points, but in the end it was Riverside edging out Saddleback 15-13 in the fifth and final game of an Orange Empire Conference match held at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano.
With Saddleback’s gym getting a new floor this month after water damaged the old floor in August, the Gauchos have been vagabond’s looking for a place to stay and play. Against a closely matched Riverside team, the Gauchos opened the match with a narrow 30-27 victory before the Tigers found a go-to girl in Markeshia Richie. Richie (26 kills on the night) helped the Tigers cruise to a 30-16 win in game two to knot the match.
Saddleback overcame a 15-11 deficit in game three behind the strong serving of Sarah Martin (Capistrano Valley HS) who served out eight straight points, giving the Gauchos a 19-15 lead and enough momentum to take game three, 30-27.
Riverside repaid the favor in game four after the score was tied at 15-15. The Tigers never again trailed, winning 30-27 to force a fifth game. The Tigers scored four straight points to open up a 9-5 advantage, but Saddleback’s Paulina Swiatkowski (Irvine HS) served up six straight points to help the Gauchos gain an 11-9 lead. The teams traded points and the score was knotted at 13-13 until a Saddleback kill attempt sailed wide. Riverside was able to win the match on the next point when Saddleback was unable to cleanly dig out a ball on defense.
In addition to Richie, Brittany Rush had 28 kills for Riverside while Brittany Whitlock (36 digs) and Andrea Valenzuela (35 digs) provided the defense. Saddleback was led by Martin (17 kills, 39 digs) and Hannah McElroy (14 kills) while Megan Ozurovich had 43 digs on defense.
Saddleback fell in three straight games to Orange Coast on Friday night in Hart Gym on the Irvine Valley College campus, 30-17, 30-17, 30-14.
It wasn’t the way the Gauchos (3-3, 0-1) wanted to start off the conference schedule, but the two-time defending state champion Pirates (7-1, 1-0) were too strong this time out and made fewer errors.
Saddleback’s Hannah McElroy posted 7 kills while Sarah Martin had 13 defensive digs and Megan Ozurovich added 10 digs.
The Gauchos will be at Santa Ana on Wednesday night (Oct. 3).
Saddleback defeated Southwestern in three straight games in a good start to the 2007 volleyball schedule. The Gauchos posted a 30-20, 30-23, 30-15 victory in the match held at Hart Gym on the Irvine Valley College campus due to damage to the floor of Saddleback’s gym.
Hannah McElroy led the Gauchos with 13 kills while setters Amber Richter (14 assists) and Jennifer Walsh (10 assists) were kept busy distributing their passes. Freshman Libero Megan Ozurovich had 10 defensive digs and four service aces in the match.
The first two games were closer than the score indicates until Saddleback limited its mistakes in the latter part of each game to open up a lead down the stretch. In the third game, Southwestern had trouble getting any offense going and Saddleback took advantage of some Jaguar weaknesses to open a big lead early. Walsh ended the match with a service ace for the Gauchos.
Saddleback will travel to San Diego on Friday to face San Diego Mesa College in a 5:00 p.m. match. The Olympians fell to Irvine Valley College in a match played immediately prior to Saddleback’s match against Southwestern.
Saddleback def. Southwestern
30-20, 30-23, 30-15
Just two Saddleback Gauchos were named to the Orange Empire Conference's all-conference women's volleyball team announced recently by a vote of the conference's coaches.
Freshman outside hitter Sarah Martin was selected to the second-team all-conference list while sophomore setter Jessica Gore was given Honorable Mention accolades.
Martin was second on the team in kills with 142 and led the team in defensive digs with 196. Gore, a transfer from Fullerton College, had 575 assists, added 17 service aces, and provided 82 defensive digs